By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

ELKTON, Mich. — The POET biorefining company announced last month it had helped two local gas stations install some pricey new blender pumps in order to promote biofuel in Michigan.

The company donated $25,000 to Ignash Petroleum, with gas stations in Elkton and Caseville, and another $25,000 to Cooperative Elevator Co. in Sebewaing. The blender pumps cost a lot and do a lot, according to Gerald Ignash, owner of Ignash Petroleum.

“That store in Elkton is the largest ethanol station in Michigan,” Ignash said. “We get a lot of customers with non-flexfuel vehicles that use higher blends because they want to try it. There’s actually quite a few people who are doing that.”

The new blender pump can dispense E85, E50, E30 and E10 regular, plus and premium. He said the pump costs about $300,000. He said the grant from POET and other grants, including a federal grant, paid for about one-third of the cost.

“I feel it’s the way of the future, to give people options,” Ignash said.

The higher ethanol blends tend to be less expensive than regular gasoline, and so far no one is saying their mileage is worse than before or that their engines are not performing up to par.

Dave Gloer, general manager of the POET ethanol plant in Caro, Mich., agreed that a lot of sales of higher ethanol blends are going to fuel non-flexfuel vehicles.

“We’re obviously going to continue to support these projects,” Gloer said. “We have a long history with Cooperative Elevator. Our goal is to make available to the public different options for fueling.”
With the addition of these two new blender pumps, there are now a total of three such pumps in the entire state, with the third one in Greenville. There are 99 gas stations in the state that offer E85.
Gloer stated several times that ethanol is “basically, locked out of the market.

“There’s study after study after study that’ll tell you that E30 is safe for non-flex fuel vehicles,” he said.

He added that some drivers with flex-fuel vehicles don’t like E85, but feel good about using E20 or E30.

The Renewable Fuels Assoc. (RFA), a pro-ethanol trade group, commissioned a study by the Ricardo group that concluded E15 will not harm most older vehicles. There is a kind of battle of the studies going on, however. An anti-ethanol group makes some studies available on its website, followthescience.org, that suggests higher ethanol blends might not be good for older engines.
In a related development, last month the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was delaying by as long as a month a decision on whether to approve the use of E15 in cars made between 2001 and 2006. The delay is apparently unrelated to fuel and E15.

“We are encouraged by EPA’s commitment to accurate testing for 2001 to 2006 cars and pickup trucks, particularly given the failures are unrelated to the fuel being tested,” said Bob Dineen, president of the RFA. “While the delay is disappointing, it is understandable. We encourage EPA to extend such due diligence to testing for all cars and pickups, regardless of age. We believe the fuel testing to date clearly demonstrates the efficacy of E15 as a motor fuel for all light duty vehicles.”